PPI what’s happening spring update

spring update 2017

A few days ago we published our annual review – a report that looks back at what we’ve seen and the work we’ve done at the ombudsman service over the last 12 months. It’s a time to reflect on how far we’ve come, what we’ve learned from the challenges we’ve faced and the trends we’ve seen in the types of help people need from us.

As you might expect, a report like this has lots of facts and figures – but of course that’s only ever part of the story. The most important thing, and what sits behind all of these statistics, are real people needing our help with all sorts of financial problems – after all, that’s what we’re here for.

When I think back over the challenges of the last year, it’s perhaps inevitable that PPI immediately comes to mind. It continues to play a big part in what we’re seeing here at the ombudsman service – and it’s likely to stay that way for some time yet. We still have a few thousand people turning to us for help with a PPI problem each week – and it’s possible that we’ll see that increase over the next couple of years too.

That’s largely due to something I’ve mentioned before – the FCA’s announcement of a two-year time limit for people to make new complaints about PPI. They’ve said the deadline will be 29 August 2019 – and later this year they’ll launch a major awareness campaign to ensure that people are aware of the deadline.

We’ll be keeping an eye on how that develops – but it doesn’t change what we do here at the ombudsman service. We’ll be making sure we’re ready for whatever comes our way. At the moment, that means planning to receive around 180,000 new PPI complaints this year and sort out around 280,000 PPI disputes by March 2018.

And we’ll also continue to focus on reducing the time people wait for an answer on their PPI complaint. I know, from first-hand experience, how frustrating it can be waiting for a problem to be sorted – and, although we’ve made big improvements over the last year or so, I know there’s more for us to do. But we are making good progress – and by this time next year we expect to be resolving 50% of PPI complaints within 45 days.

If you saw my last update, you’ll also know that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced they are bringing in some new rules around the handling of PPI complaints – in light of the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Plevin. We’ve now got over 145,000 cases that are potentially affected by the judgment – so the publication of the FCA’s guidance is undoubtedly good news for those consumers and businesses who are waiting for an answer on their complaint.

These new rules also come into force on 29 August 2017 – but before then, there’s a lot of detail for us and businesses to work through so we can make sure people are getting fair answers as quickly as possible. But with so many people waiting, it will take us some time to get back to each individual – and if you’re one of those waiting for our answer please do bear with us.

Undoubtedly, there is some uncertainty as we look forward – it’s hard to know, for example, how many people will turn to us for help in light of the time limit for new complaints. But we do know that our commitment to helping each individual customer – and resolving their PPI problems as quickly as we can – will remain at the heart of everything we do.

previous updates

where can I find out more about what’s happened with PPI?

Over the last few years, we’ve received and resolved well over a million complaints about PPI. You can see how many we’ve received each year in our annual review - and keep up to date with quarterly figures in ombudsman news.

In 2008, we made a formal referral to the regulator at the time, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), because of the record number of complaints we were getting and the high number we were upholding.

In October 2010, the British Bankers Association (BBA), on behalf of a number of high-street banks, announced that it had launched a legal challenge – in the form of a judicial review – against the FSA and the ombudsman service about the approach to PPI complaint handling.

Judgment was handed down in April 2011 – rejecting the banks' challenge and endorsing the approach taken by the regulator and the ombudsman. In May 2011, the BBA confirmed it wouldn’t be appealing against the High Court ruling or continuing its legal challenge.

In 2014 Citizens Advice published a report about the lessons to be learned from PPI mis-selling.

In 2016 an independent report by Richard Thomas CBE looked at the impact of PPI mis-selling on the ombudsman service. The report was commissioned by our board following unprecedented demand from people with PPI complaints – to make sure we were able to help effectively. We responded to Richard Thomas’s recommendations.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s website explains the action it’s taken on PPI, including relevant publications and information for consumers.